Mess 145

145.

It was no mere feeling of déjà vu.

Before, nobles had arrived in their finery to watch the spectacular fall of the Countess Validus.

Today, once again, all had gathered here to see another daughter of Validus.

This time, however, there were a few differences: the venue was the temple, and conspicuously fewer nobles were present than one might expect.

“They’re being cautious about you.”

Loony and Karl, arriving in a separate carriage, joined Seraphie.

“They don’t want to make enemies by being seen here as mere spectators. Here, a list of the families not in attendance.”

“My parents, too, chose not to attend for the same reason.”

Orchis advised that it would be wise to keep track of who was absent, passing the list discreetly to Seraphie.

“……”

Seraphie scanned the list and nodded.

She glanced around, taking in the audience. Unlike at her own trial, there were indeed far fewer nobles.

Not only Pelikia, but also the Marquess Castane with whom she’d built ties at the last council, and other supportive nobles, were all missing.

‘That’s as it should be.’

Seraphie sniffed disdainfully to herself.

She folded the list neatly and tucked it into her pocket.

“Oh, look at them.”

So persistent, honestly.

Loony pointed out Seraphie’s biological father and half-brothers occupying prominent seats up front, sighing in disgust.

If Seraphie’s group was the main focus, the next most scrutinized party was the Mars family.

Unsurprising—after the eldest son of the Count of Mars caused his ruckus at the palace, all the spies the nobility had concealed there were discovered and dealt with.

Naturally, the families who had planted those spies suffered as well. In fact, resentment now rested more with Mars than with Seraphie.

Yet those three sat there, heads held high with audacious pride.

“The gods must be blind. Why haven’t they taken those wretches?”

With a spit, Loony vented her own novel brand of curse in their direction.

“If it were up to me, I’d pluck every last hair off those inhuman wretches and stick them one by one into their filthy, slandering little tongues—”

“Loony!”

Startled, Karl quickly embraced Loony.

“Heavens above…”

“Wah, Karl sweetie!”

Shocked by her beloved’s bloodcurdling curse, Karl whispered a prayer for forgiveness, while Loony buried her face eagerly in her lover’s arms.

“You’re both insufferable.”

Orchis nodded in agreement to Seraphie’s mutter.

Seraphie shifted her gaze away from her quarrelsome friends and swept her eyes over the Mars family. Beside them sat Baron Catio and Count Baglosa.

The younger baron sat next to Baron Catio.

Count Baglosa, however, was alone.

“……”

Her blue gaze lingered momentarily on Count Baglosa before moving on.

Seraphie took her seat—one reserved by the temple.

“Is this how it felt?”

Loony leaned in to whisper, as razor-sharp eyes continued stabbing their way from entrance to seat.

As someone never before the center of such attention, Loony was deeply unsettled.

“It’s just…!”

“Feels like being an animal in a zoo, right?”

Seraphie said, unimpressed.

Loony couldn’t bring herself to reply. She faced forward, struggling to maintain her composure.

“Never have I felt so abject and repulsive.”

“It’s all right. At my own trial, I silently cursed everyone present. I imagined slitting throats and burying bodies in my mind.”

“Thank you. Now I feel no guilt at all.”

Loony shot her boss a look. But knowing Seraphie understood her regrets and guilt, she valiantly fought the sting in her nose.

Soon, the priests appeared.

All clad in wide, snow-white vestments, they wore faces of somber dignity and purity.

Seraphie found the contradiction rather striking.

“Esteemed guests,”

The high priest began. True to his experience leading the faith, his voice commanded complete attention.

Seraphie slipped her hand under Orchis’s palm, raising her middle finger out of sight.

Orchis didn’t even blink at the gesture anymore.

“Blessings upon the Ortus Empire, watched over by our exalted deity.”

He began by subtly glorifying both the empire and the god they served.

Then he came to the main point.

“In obedience to the divine will, the temple extends its hand to aid the poor and destitute.”

Anyone who proudly declared such things was never truly pious, Seraphie thought with inner derision.

“We recently discovered that an orphan girl under our care greatly resembles Count Validus. Upon investigation, it was revealed that she is in fact the hidden daughter of the former count.”

The high priest’s tone—so measured and dramatic—was pure theater.

“We rejoice that this child has found her family.”

His display of false emotion was better acted than the finest professional.

“……”

Seraphie’s eyes narrowed.

One of the priests led out a child.

‘…Does she look like me?’

Orchis narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the girl’s face.

If they resembled each other at all, it was only in the gentle impression and the blue-tinged hair—more a matter of aura than appearance.

Nevertheless, from afar, the nobles began to murmur about the resemblance between the orphan and Seraphie.

“Seraphie.”

At Karl’s call, Seraphie flicked a finger from her crossed arms.

At this, Karl slipped away from her seat, unnoticed.

“Count Validus.”

The high priest beamed.

“This way, please.”

Seraphie rose obediently and mounted the stage.

Directors and actors, wholly absorbed in what they believed a meticulously plotted play, bowed deeply to her.

“……”

“……”

And Seraphie’s gaze met someone’s among them.

The black-haired priest who’d discussed her burial flashed a thin smile.

Seraphie turned her attention to the child at her feet.

“You mean to say this child is my younger sister?”

“Her name is Carolla.”

With deliberate ceremony, the high priest pushed the girl toward Seraphie.

Tense before the unfamiliar crowd, Carolla stumbled as she was thrust forward.

“Ah…!”

She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing to fall.

“…Oh?”

Instead of the pain she expected, she felt gentle warmth and a soft voice.

“Are you all right?”

“……”

“Well, perhaps because she’s my sister, there is something of a resemblance.”

As Seraphie showed Carolla a hint of care, the high priest’s pleased smile deepened.

But behind the cuff of his sleeve, his lips twisted viciously with barely hidden scorn.

“Your name?”

“……”

“How old are you?”

“……”

“Were you frightened here?”

“……”

Carolla almost nodded before she caught herself and froze.

“…I see.”

Standing again, Seraphie quietly moved Carolla behind herself.

“High priest.”

“Yes, Count?”

“What evidence do you have that this girl is my blood relative?”

“Anticipating such doubts, we have prepared a reagent to confirm kinship.”

An opaque white potion was brought to the dais. A priest poured it into a goblet adorned with golden leaves.

“We have brought the former Count Validus’s blood from the prison.”

“Without my permission, you took my father’s blood?”

He is a noble, you know.

The high priest’s face hardened momentarily at the unexpected rebuke. But he quickly recovered, offering a gentle smile and an excuse.

“My apologies. However, considering the gravity of the matter—”

“Of course. From such people—who think nothing of meddling in other people’s family matters—there’s nothing I should expect.”

“……”

“Enough. Go on.”

Seraphie gestured with a flick of her hand.

A vein bulged at the high priest’s temple beneath his still smiling face.

“…First, we will confirm that this is the former count’s blood by mixing it with yours. Then, with what remains, we’ll test the child’s connection.”

As he said, another goblet was produced. The priest divided the reagent between the two cups.

“Your hand, Count.”

Obedient to the high priest, Seraphie extended her hand.

“This may sting a little.”

With a quick prick, the black-haired priest drew a drop of blood from Seraphie’s fingertip, which beaded up bright red.

“All shall proceed as it must.”

He whispered so only Seraphie could hear, smiling thinly.

“……”

Seraphie watched the drop of blood as it fell.

It landed on the surface of the potion, sending ripples across it. Then, the black-haired priest added the former count’s blood.

“It turns blue,”

Announced the high priest, voice raised for all.

The potion, mixed with both samples, turned blue—proving the blood ties, at least as the test was meant to.

Thus, the blood the temple presented was “proven” to be that of her biological father.

But Seraphie doubted even that much.

‘Not that it matters.’

In this farce, such things were incidental.

Next, Carolla’s blood was drawn from her fingertip.

“Ah…”

Flinching at the sting, Carolla grabbed the hem of Seraphie’s skirt.

“Mama…”

Seraphie pretended not to hear the tiny sob. Yet she did nothing to stop the child from hiding herself deeper against her skirts.

“Oh!”

The high priest exclaimed.

“The purest blue! It’s true kinship!”

As expected, or perhaps not, the reagent turned blue. Carolla became Validus in that instant.

“My word, so she really was a bastard?”

“Then did the temple help Validus?”

“Would they have made such a public affair of it if they helped?”

“But the child has become Validus thanks to them…”

The room buzzed, volume spiraling higher. The priests did nothing to restrain it.

“Count.”

The high priest, eyes moist with a theatrical tear, called Seraphie’s name.

“It must be a great joy to have found your family.”

“Indeed.”

Lowering herself slightly, Seraphie let her lips curl into a lazy smile.

“Hey.”

She beckoned Carolla, who stared back in terror. Seraphie gave her a wry grin.

“From this day forward, I’m your sister.”

“……”

“Which means, I’ll protect and watch over you. Validus will do anything for you.”

Anything at all.

“Carolla!”

Just as Seraphie finished, a voice rang through the clamor—sharp, desperate, trembling with fear, yet mustering every last bit of courage.

“…M-mama?”